1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to various switching devices of high breakdown voltage and a process for forming same.
2. Description of the Related Art
By way of background to the present invention, the disclosures of the following documents are hereby incorporated by reference, in their respective entireties:    Brandić et al., “High Voltage (450 V) GaN Schottky Rectifiers,” Appl. Phys. Lett., Vol. 74, No. 9, pp. 1266-1268 (Mar. 1, 1999).    Trivedi et al., “Performance Evaluation of High-Power Wide Band-Gap Semiconductor Rectifiers,” J. Appl. Phys., Vol. 85, No. 9, pp. 6889-6897 (May 1, 1999).    U.S. Pat. No. 6,156,581 issued Dec. 5, 2000 in the names of Robert P. Vaudo, et al. for “GaN-BASED DEVICES USING THICK (Ga, Al, In)N BASE LAYERS.”    U.S. Pat. No. 6,440,823 issued Aug. 27, 2002 in the names of Robert P. Vaudo, et al. for “LOW DEFECT DENSITY (Ga, Al, In)N AND HVPE PROCESS FOR MAKING SAME.”    U.S. Pat. No. 6,447,604 issued Sep. 10, 2002 in the names of Jeffrey S. Flynn et al. for “METHOD FOR ACHIEVING IMPROVED EPITAXY QUALITY (SURFACE TEXTURE AND DEFECT DENSITY) ON FREE-STANDING (ALUMINUM, INDIUM, GALLIUM) NITRIDE ((AL, IN, GA)N) SUBSTRATES FOR OPTO-ELECTRONIC AND ELECTRONIC DEVICES.”    (Ga, Al, In)N-based materials, which are generically referred to as “GaN” throughout the description of the present invention hereinafter unless specified otherwise, is a promising group of semiconductor materials for fabricating high voltage, high power microelectronic switching devices, which include, but are not limited to, Schottky diode rectifiers, P-N diodes, P-I-N diodes, thyristors with P-N-P-N junctions, and Impact Ionization Avalanche Transit Time devices (IMPATTs) with N+-P-I-P+ junctions, etc.
As shown in Table 1, GaN has a number of fundamental properties that make it advantageous for use in high power switching applications. The wide band gap of GaN gives it a high theoretical breakdown field, comparable to 4H—SiC. In addition, GaN has a higher electron mobility and maximum velocity than 4H—SiC. The thermal conductivity of GaN, while lower than 4H—SiC, is comparable to that of Si, which is currently the most common material used to fabricate high power switching devices.
TABLE 1300K PROPERTIES OF CANDIDATE MATERIALSSi4H—SiCGaNBandgap (eV)1.13.33.4Ec, Breakdown field (105 V/cm)23050* μ, Electron mobility (cm2/Vs)1400800900  V, Maximum velocity (107 cm/s)123 Thermal conductivity (W/cm K)1.54.91.7*theoretical maximum value
Thus, the thicker a semiconductor layer and the lower the dopant concentration in such semiconductor layer, the higher the breakdown voltage of the switching device fabricated by using such semiconductor layer. Therefore, thick, low-doped epitaxial semiconductor layers are required in order to fabricate switching devices that will support high breakdown voltage.
For obtaining a sufficiently high breakdown voltage, the thickness and doping requirements for GaN layers are less than those for Si or SiC layers. Specifically, FIG. 1 is a plot of the predicted doping and thickness requirements for GaN-based rectifiers. For example, in order to fabricate a rectifier with a 5 kV reverse breakdown voltage, an approximately 20 μm thick GaN layer with a background doping concentration of n=1×1016 atoms/cm3 is required. AlGaN alloys, which have even larger band gap (6.2 eV max) and higher theoretical breakdown voltage than those of simple GaN material, enable fabrication of rectifiers and other switching devices of even higher breakdown voltages.
In order to fabricate the GaN-based switching devices of high breakdown voltages, as described hereinabove, it is necessary to deposit the thick, low-doped GaN semiconductor layer of required thickness and background doping concentration on top of a highly conductive GaN base layer that is required for ohmic contact.
However, GaN is difficult to deposit to a thickness greater than a couple of microns on hetero-epitaxial substrates, due to high thermal coefficient of expansion (TCE) mismatch and formation of threading dislocations (TDs) and other defects. Novel growth methods, structures, and/or substrates therefore need to be employed to deposit GaN layers to a suitable thickness, as required for fabrication of an electronic device. In addition, the epitaxial layers need to be deposited on a substrate of suitable size, with high uniformity and quality, and with an appropriate configuration of the epitaxial structure (e.g., lateral or vertical) and orientation (e.g., c-plane, r-plane, m-plane, off-axis, on-axis, and offcut direction and angle), so as to meet the cost, yield and performance needs of the specific device applications.
Currently, Si, sapphire, SiC, HVPE/sapphire, and free-standing bulk GaN substrates are available in various sizes and configurations that suit the needs of various high voltage diode applications. Typically, low cost, low power (<1 kV) devices employ a hetero-epitaxial substrate such as Si and sapphire, while high cost, high power (>1 kV) devices use better lattice matched substrates, such as SiC, HVPE/sapphire, and free-standing bulk GaN. Provision of suitable epitaxy quality on hetero-epitaxial substrates is difficult, due to the differences in thermal expansion coefficients and lattice mismatches between the hetero-epitaxial substrates and the GaN layers grown thereon, which result in high dislocation defect density and severe cracking of the GaN epitaxial layers. Growth of epitaxial GaN layer on GaN or HVPE/sapphire substrates are less affected by the TCE and lattice mismatches, but other problems, such as interface charge elimination between the GaN substrates and the epitaxial layer, may still need to be overcome. In all cases, problems with cracking are exacerbated when GaN epitaxial layer is doped with Si to form the highly conductive n-type GaN layer in high breakdown voltage devices.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a high quality and uniform MOVPE epitaxial layer of large diameter on a suitable hetero-epitaxial or homo-epitaxial substrate with low cracking density, low pitting density, and high n-layer conductivity, upon which a thick, low-doped GaN layer can be formed for fabricating GaN-based switching devices with high breakdown voltages.